Background check bill may be dead

SANTA FE A bill to require state background checks for people who buy firearms in private transactions and at gun shows could be dead, having stalled Monday night on an 8-8 committee vote.

Democratic Rep. Eliseo Alcon joined seven Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee in voting against the bill. The other eight Democrats on the panel supported it.

Alcon, of Milan in northwestern New Mexico, said he did not support the bill because his constituents, mainly older people and native Americans, did not like it.

The bill's sponsor, Rep. Miguel Garcia, said he wanted to close a loophole that enables convicted felons, mentally ill people or perpetrators of domestic violence to buy guns.

They cannot make a purchase at stores run by federally licensed dealers of firearms, but they can buy guns at shows and through private transactions, said Garcia, D-Albuquerque.

About 180 people attended the hearing, a turnout so large that debate on the bill was moved to the floor of the House of Representatives, the most spacious room in the Capitol.

Most in the crowd opposed the bill. They called it a sloppy piece of legislation that would create bureaucracy but do nothing to improve public safety.

In support of the bill were Santa Fe Mayor David Coss, his city's police chief, social workers and clergy. They said Garcia's proposal, House Bill 77, was a common-sense way to make New Mexico safer.

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Coss, himself a gun owner, said the existing system of buying firearms is like having two lines at airports one for people who must pass through metal detectors and another that allows anybody to board a flight without being screened. He said Garcia's bill would end the dual standard of gun purchases.

The state attorney general's staff found much fault with Garcia's bill, suggesting 11 amendments to eliminate conflicts with federal law or to rewrite confusing sections.

A committee member, Republican Rep. Nate Gentry of Albuquerque, called the bill a colossal mess that should not have been heard.

"I can't even get to policy on this bill because it's so technically flawed," Gentry said.

The National Rifle Association, though, opposed the bill on policy grounds. Its lobbyist said prosecutors almost never bring charges against felons who are ineligible to own guns but attempt to buy them anyway. An effort to enforce laws already on the books would be smarter than a new law, the NRA said.

Roger Finzel, describing himself as a Democrat, a defense attorney and a gun owner, said Garcia had written a bill that would mandate "senseless" background checks and harass an honest citizenry interested in gun purchases.

A better mental health system can make the state safer, not Garcia's bill, Finzel said.

Republican Rep. Bill Rehm, a retired sheriff's captain from Albuquerque, also challenged the wisdom of the bill. He said New York City and Chicago have stricter gun laws than does New Mexico but a higher homicide rate.

His former colleagues in the New Mexico Sheriff's Association, led by Sheriff Ken Christesen of San Juan County, were among those who opposed the bill.

Garcia said he would try to revive the bill by amending objectionable sections, then asking the committee for another hearing.Milan Simonich, Santa Fe bureau chief of Texas-New Mexico Newspapers, can be reached at msimonich@tnmnp.com or 505-820-6898. His blog is at nmcapitolreport.com